A Short Study of Terms as Indicators of the Historical
Role of Japan's Special Warriors

There are various channels of investigation which one might choose
to shed some light on the otherwise elusive topic of the special
warriors of Japan commonly known today as ninja. The one
I would like to offer here focuses on some of the terms used
throughout Japanese history to refer to warriors who specialized
in gathering information and who were skilled in a wide range,
often uncommon, methods of warfare.

Some terms identified certain roles
and duties, other terms did not point at any specific role, rather
were coined by a leading warrior to distinguish his warriors,
or espionage agents, from others. Such terms were similar to
a local dialect in that they only used a term unique to that
locality, but that in essence it was not unique. It is also important
to point out that as warfare developed and became more sophisticated
and complex, so was the variety of duties assigned to special
warriors.

Before the Nara period (711-794) there
seem to have been one or two terms regardless of the warriorÕs duties. It is said that as early as the seventh
century, Prince Shotoku have already used the term shinobi
to describe a person who provided special services. In the case
of Prince Shotoku, shinobi were his close attendants whom
he used for various tasks, most likely as secret messengers or
information gatherers. The most known among these shinobi
was Otomo Komado. At that time the term shinobi was not
written with the single character nin, rather a combination
of three characters used for their sound alone. In fact, the
meaning of the characters was completely unrelated to espionage,
and put together produced no logical meaning. This early use
of the term shinobi indicates that warriors specializing
in espionage and covert warfare existed before the introduction
of Chinese knowledge and terminology of warfare.

Though clear evidence is unavailable,
it appears that Prince Shotoku also began to use the term kanja
for experts of espionage. In fact, it is the earliest term for
a person who specializes only in information gathering. The term
kanja was the Japanese rendering of the Chinese term kan,
adding the character for "person" or sha, which together with kan produced
the term kanja.

A term similar to kanja that
was also adopted from Chinese was kancho. The character cho means to look around for information, thus
when combined with the character for kan produces a meaning
identical to kanja. These terms are therefore interchangeable,
with no specific connection to any particular historical event
or period. Another derivative of kan was Emperor TenmuÕs use of sokkan for an espionage agent
who also performed duties such as assassination. This was a personal
attendant warrior for Emperor Tenmu by the name of Takomi, for
whom there are references in historical records. Yet another
Chinese term that was adopted in Japan was kansai, which
meant a person who searches for detailed information.

Borrowing these Chinese terms was the
result of a much wider trend of importing Chinese philosophy,
religion, state institutions, and culture. Systematic knowledge
of espionage arrived from China in arguably the most well known
text on warfare written by the Chinese general Sun Tzu. In this
work those engaged in espionage were divided to five types called
gokan, or Òfive spies.Ó These included the local agent (gokan,
using a different character for go), double agent (hankan),
inside agent (naikan), expandable agent (shikan),
and living agent (shokan). The gokan system in Japan served
as the foundation for the Japanese use of information gatherers,
and is mentioned in the Bansenshukai as the foundation for a
more elaborate system developed in Japan. Thus, it appears that
the Chinese contribution to the development of espionage in Japan
has been rather substantial.

The Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333)
did not produce any new terms worth mentioning here. However,
since the Onin War (1467-77) and the increasing intensity of
strife among local warlords produced a whole range of specializations
associated with espionage and covert warfare. Some terms were
common, others associated with the nature of the warriorÕs duty, the region, or even the warlordÕs personal preference.

Mitsumono
(also rappa) was a system of three types of warriors who
specialized in information gathering established by Takeda Shingen.
Shingen who made extensive use of espionage employed warriors
of low social status whom he called rappa. However, he
divided the role of rappa to those specializing in collecting
verbal information, and two types of observers. These three types
became known as mitsumono, and together with the term
rappa were used in eastern Japan.

Tan'en (also read nokizaru) was a term that
reflected the skills of a warrior. It referred to one who specialized
in entering a house through the roof. This warrior walked on
the roof and jumped from rooftop to rooftop like a monkey leaping
from tree to tree, hence its name nokizaru ("rooftop monkey").
These agents were known in the Sengoku period and served the
warlord Uesugi Kenshin.

Some warrior bands skilled at special
warfare were formed only to achieve a certain goal. After the
goal was achieved the band was dispersed. For example, the nusumigumi
("thieves band") was a group of fifty Iga warriors serving
Maeda Toshiie in strengthening his Kaga domain. Once the domain
achieved stability and strength the group was dissolved.

Under certain conditions a warrior's specialty or purpose, or the warlords preference,
became the terms used to identify such warriors. Kikimonoyaku
was one who gathered enemy secrets by listening to rumors and
gossip, but the origin of the term is unknown. On the other hand,
kyodan, or an agent recruited from within the enemy troops
by bribes such as money and wine, was a term first used by Oda
Nobunaga in the Sengoku period (1477-1573). Kusa , or
kusamono, were agents used by the Sanada family. The term
was coined because these agents relied on hiding in fields and
forests, or in peasant houses. The word kusa means grass,
and kusamono is a "grass-person" and suggests "a
person who hides in the grass."

Some warrior bands were independent
of powerful warlords. Shinobi no shu was a group of warriors formed and supported
by the Iga warrior Todo Takatora sometime during the Keicho era
(1596-1614). This group was one of five called Iga musokunin, which comprised five bands of warriors each specializing in a certain aspect of warfare. When Commodore Perry first arrived in Uraga bay in 1853, one of those warrior musokunin,
Sawamura Jinzaburo, ran to Uraga to spy on Commodore Perry's Black Ships.

A similar independent type of warriors
were the suppa (also seppa) of western Japan. The
term meant to pass through, unsheathe, excel, but also referred
to a thief or brigand. A known suppa in the early modern
period was Fuma Kotaro. His lineage and knowledge, however, are
unknown. There were two types of suppa: yaburi-suppa
and kakae-suppa. Both were at social status of thieves
and mountain brigands.

The Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1868) further
qualified the use of espionage and skilled warriors. For example,
akeyashikiban was a guard system used by the third Tokugawa
shogun Iemitsu. When the shogun or daimyo were absent from their
castle and the castle had to remain empty, a group of Iga warriors
was assigned to guard the castle until the shogun or daimyo returned
with their regular band of warriors.

Most of the new developments were related
to the shogunate's mechanism of
state control. Onmitsu was a term coined by the Toyotomi
family but onmitsu played an important role only later
under Tokugawa rule. The Tokugawa shogunate used onmitsu
for gathering information throughout Japan. Unlike the metsuke
and ometsuke officials whose duty was similar to that
of the onmitsu, the onmitsu traveled in the domains
incognito while the metsuke and ometsuke were recognized
officials.

Another mechanism of control involved
the use of kobushikata. These were agents who were part
of a group of ten under the command of a group of three Iga warriors
who worked in the service of a local official. The kobushikata
agents usually performed manual labor such as road repair and
construction, and it was in this disguise that they performed
their duties spying on the local population.

While it is possible to identify the
origin and use of most terms associated with Japan's special warriors, the origins of the term
ninja, the most recent term of which almost any informed
child is familiar with, remains unknown. Some scholars have speculated
that it was coined by performers and entertainers during the
late Tokugawa period, others "blame" the modern entertainment industry. At this
time, the lack of reliable sources to point us to the origins
of the term ninja seem to remain unresolved.